Office Space Movie Review

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In what can only be described as Dilbertesque, Office Space takes us into the world where no one wants to venture, that of the cubicle-ridden software company. Here, life and work are monotonous and boring, at least until one man decides to stand up against the system.

Ron Livingston heads the cast as Peter Gibbons, a man who is fed up with work. His coworkers, Michael Bolton (played with precise Bill Gates style by David Herman) and Samir (Ajay Naidu) are also on the verge of collapse, but are also unwilling to go to the extremes that Peter is about to do. One day, he just decides to stop working, and ends up getting a promotion for it. Livingston brings forth the normal guy that we all know that is stuck in a job we all hate, and adds a little comedic style to it. Along for the ride is Stephen Root as Milton, a mumbling employee who was actually laid off five years earlier but continues to receive his paychecks. Gary Cole is Mr. Lumbergh, the devil's incarnate of a boss.

The first twenty minutes of this movie are so funny. Office Space makes fun of every little thing, from memos to bosses to fax machines to cubicles to reserved parking spaces. After that, the movie continues to work itself into a mold of office humiliation, although not as explosive as the few opening scenes. The fax machine "hit" is great, and I enjoyed all the scenes with Jennifer Aniston, especially the one where Livingston asks her out on a date. (From friends that work at restaurants with "Flare," I know that they all hate those little buttons as much as Aniston's character does in Office Space).

Office Space is a funny movie with funny characters, and mostly everyone should be able to appreciate it.